1867 5c No Rays, DDO & Repunched Date, FS-1102 MS

Key to Collecting: This issue has the highest circulation-strike mintage of any Shield nickel (see mintage-estimate notes under the preceding listing). As the first year of the Without Rays design, this coin is in additional demand for inclusion in type sets. These were produced starting in February, the removal of the rays being considered a solution to help reduce the tremendous problems in striking that had taken place the previous year. It was hoped that the life of a pair of dies would exceed 10,000 coins on a regular basis. Indeed, the revision did help, and coins of the new type are generally better struck.

Examples of the 1867 Without Rays nickel are plentiful today in just about any grade desired. Among Mint State coins, most are in the lower ranges, up to MS-64. True gems are rare. Striking is a problem, despite the absence of the rays. Also, the majority of coins are light in one place or another, although generally better detailed than the coins of 1866. Still, if you seek a combination of sharp details, good luster, and good eye appeal, probably not more than 1 in 10 coins will qualify. However, you have an insider’s advantage in knowing what to look for—as most buyers are unaware, and certified holders make no mention of anything beyond a number.

Proofs are fairly elusive, and quality can be a problem, more in the way of eye appeal than in sharp details. Proofs exist from two reverse dies, style C (known as the normal reverse) and D (the Pattern Reverse; see pp. 39 and 40 for a detailed discussion). A normal-reverse Proof from the collection of 19th-century Baltimore numismatist T. Harrison Garrett, later in the Sunnywood Collection, is shown above.

Characteristics and Appearance: Most are lightly detailed in one area or another, and many, if not most, show die cracks. The latter is not a negative as far as price goes, but it is a feature that adds interest.

Characteristics and Appearance: Usually seen with deeply mirrored fields, with contrasting devices, and, for coins that have not been overly cleaned, with good eye appeal. Some have lightness at the star centers.

Mintage and Distribution Notes: 750 to 1,100 (estimated). The earliest, and today the rarest, Proofs have the Pattern Reverse (stars point under the upright of E in STATES and at the center of A in AMERICA). These were probably included in the first delivery of 25 full Proof sets of the 1867 year on February 5, although others could have been delivered singly (and no record kept). The obverse die state is very early and slightly different from that seen on the normal Proofs with the normal reverse (stars point under right serif of E in STATES and between A and M in AMERICA).4 On the Sunnywood/Garrett Pattern Reverse coin, the obverse has a raised graver’s line, somewhat resembling a die crack, in the frame of the shield to the left of the horizontal stripes. The base of the 7 in 1867 shows traces of an earlier 7 in the field slightly to the left. On June 5, 1867, the Philadelphia Mint paid photographer M.P. Simons to take pictures of the “reverse of five cents,” type of coin not known (regular issue or pattern?).

Missing Leaf—No outside leaf on the second group at right; three leaves instead of four. Edward L. Fletcher describes seven dies with this feature, to which Howard Spindel has added two more.

Repunched Date—Several interesting repunched dates beckon, representing dies in which the four-digit logotype was first entered, then entered again in a slightly different position. FS-1102, F-54 has the date repunched to the south southwest and is also a doubled-die obverse (most noticeable at the annulet).